Monthly Archives: July 2011

Not to be missed is this fantastic-looking new study from Stanford. It pulls together a tremendous amount of data to create a series of maps of the U.S. that depict the growth of the newspaper business at key intervals. At a glance, the whole thing seems very smart and beautiful.

I thought the unfiltered version was a bit overwhelming, so I started playing around with it. Try screening just for daily newspapers. You can also use it to track the rise of Spanish papers, and a lot more.

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The news about the news business is suddenly all-Murdoch, all the time.

I am struggling with my reflexive reaction to government meddling with journalism, which is to say: hands off. Murdoch is the one person in the news business for whom I might consider an exception. (And that is based not on his right-wing politics, but on his declared intent to destroy the NYTimes. That puts him in a different category — a destroyer or vandal of journalism.

[Aside: is it just me, or does it seem that the Times is on a mission to print as many unflattering, aging photos of Murdoch as possible?]

AFP/Getty

So, it is with somewhat mixed feelings that I greet the news that Sen. Jay Rockefeller (who may actually be richer than Murdoch) has called on U.S. authorities to investigate the behavior (not the views) of all Murdoch employees in the United States for possible criminal actions. That would involve FOX TV News, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, and other properties.

Here’s a story from The State, based in Rockefeller’s home state of West Virginia.